Tritium is produced in large quantities for a variety of purposes, e.g. work in nuclear fusion, and is commercially available at tolerable cost and in high purity. As a consequence, the measurement of tritium pressure is increasingly of significance and importance.
To date, the measurement and monitoring of tritium pressure within the above-mentioned range has utilized capacitive pressure sensors working into appropriate capacitance and measuring electronic circuitry to obtain the requisite precision.
Such pressure sensors are extremely costly and can only be effective for the determination of total pressure. Perhaps an even greater problem is the mechanical instability of such pressure sensors which are highly sensitive to vibration, impact and like effects.